we are far from home but we're so happy
by GCC Human Being
Summary: Jeff finally leaves Colorado, and Annie tags along.
1. Chapter 1

Spoilers: Current  
Disclaimer: I don't own Community.  
Author's Note: So I've wanted to write this story for about a year, and I finally got around to it. It takes place in the summer after season 5. The title comes from the song From Finner by Of Monsters and Men.

Thanks to my friend Caitlin for the beta. On here she's Wandering Violinist but regardless I'd thought I'd throw her a shout out.

#

It's the last week of June and Jeff finds himself in one of the recliner seats at Annie and Abed's apartment. He's drinking a glass of iced tea while reclined as far back as he can in his chair. Annie's sitting in the recliner next to him splitting her attention between watching TV and painting her nails a cheery shade of yellow.

Nothing's on, so they're watching a special on the Travel Channel on the top fifteen most expensive hotel suites.

This is pretty much his life for now.

One of the few perks of working at Greendale is the fact he receives random vacations in the year, and from now until a few weeks after the Fourth of July he has off before he has to begin his summer school classes. But for right now lounging around doing nothing is pretty typical, that or he hangs out with Annie a lot.

Because they're friends.

And friends do that sort of thing.

They'll see a movie every once in a while, or they'll get coffee at the coffee place a few blocks from his apartment (correction: they'll both buy coffee with their own money. He doesn't want to get any more annoying lectures from Shirley and he sure as hell is not going to be giving her ammunition like: "he buys her coffee therefore they must be dating."). He once had her over at his apartment to help him rearrange furniture, and about fifteen minutes in he received an angry phone call from Shirley saying she didn't approve of Jeff and Annie's non-existent relationship. So he played it off and invited her over to help. Once she came he assumed that she had forgotten all about why she nagged him in the first place, and he sat back and watched the two girls bicker over where the bookshelf should go.

Annie's life doesn't seem all that hectic either, at least he doesn't think it is. She has her job at the police station where she's a receptionist and she gets to keep her future career in mind. He hears her whine about the early hour and hears her rejoice over the fact that she gets off work in time to beat the Greendale traffic on the main street. Everyone is doing something this summer, whether it be traveling, or seeing family, or working, and for the most part neither Jeff nor Annie are horribly busy at the moment, and they spend a lot of time doing nothing.

Doing nothing together.

"Jeff?" Annie asks in the midst of blowing on her nails.

He takes his eyes of the TV that was showing some suite in Hong Kong to raise his eyebrows at her.

"Do you mind," she holds out her right hand lacking yellow polish, "I'm right han-"

"Nope," he shakes his head interrupting her. "Not happening."

She offers him a tentative smile, "Please! I'm so bad at my right hand you have no idea."

"Annie, I'm your friend. Not your manicurist. Besides, how do you know I'd even do a good job?"

"Because you'd be painting my nails with your dominant…" she mutters.

"Whatever, not doing it."

She purses her lips and rolls her eyes as she begins to attempt to paint her right thumb. She focuses in and sticks out her tongue a little bit and he can't help but snicker.

"Shut up, you're distracting me!" She cries without breaking focus to look up. He sees a smile creeping up on her face as she tries to concentrate on her thumb. She finally finishes her thumb and looks up at him, her hair falls in her face and she's trying to move it without getting her wet fingers in her hair. Much to his amusement she does a dramatic hair flip to get it all out of her face.

He's snickering into his glass, "That was cute." He offers her a smug smile.

"I'm going to paint my middle finger next for you," she sneers.

He snickers and returns back to the TV to see the host touring a hotel in Hong Kong. It had breathtaking views of the city from the rooms own private terrace. The suite had sleek modern furnishing with futuristic appliances. They toured the spa, gym, bar, restaurants, and lobby as well as a few other rooms before cutting to a commercial.

After one break Annie's done with her nails.

"Look Jeff," she shoves her hand in his face. "Look at how horrible this is."

He snickers and grabs her wrist and pushes it away. "They're fine," he reassures without really looking.

"No they're not!" She picks at the dried yellow on the edge of her nail. "They're really messy," she huffs.

He tunes out her whining to look at the new room showing on the screen. It's somewhere in Turkey on some beach he can't pronounce.

"Holy shit!" Jeff exclaims when he hears the price.

Her eyes go wide and she stares at him in shock, "Jeff! What?"

"You can spend up to sixteen thousand a night at this hotel! That's crazy!" He doesn't take his eyes of the screen as he scoots forward.

"WHAT?!" She lurches herself forward and ends up at the edge of her seat.

"Sixteen thousand," he repeats. "That's just- wow," he shakes his head at the thought of throwing sixteen thousand dollars out of his bank account for just one night.

"I don't even think I have sixteen dollars in cash right now…" she mutters to herself before snapping back to reality. "This is so crazy. Where is this place anyway?"

"Turkey, some city I don't know, but look at the crown molding on the walls! It looks so fancy."

"Really Jeff, the crown molding on the walls, that's what makes a room worth sixteen thousand a night? Look at the bathroom and the marble, it's everywhere. And the view of the beach, oh my goodness," she gasps nearing the edge of her seat.

"I want to live there," he chuckles as she sighs with her hands on her face, staring at the lavish world on the other side of the television.

"I want to be a princess and live there."

He snickers at her, but honestly can't really blame her.

There were hearts in his eyes as the host talked about the twenty four hour gym with top-of-the-line equipment with personal trainers available, and the spa amenities. The man walked out the infinity pool and the extravagant courtyard that overlooked the Sea of Marmara. The ottoman architecture was evident throughout the whole palace, but especially in the lobby. Turkish patterns covered the floor and marble and mahogany cover the walls. The camera panned to show the chandeliers as the TV faded to black for a commercial break.

"Wow," he sighs.

"Yeah," she laughs, eyes wide in disbelief.

"You know, the crazy thing is that the show just started and, that means there are thirteen more hotels more expensive than this."

She gets up and heads toward the kitchen, "I'm making popcorn, we are definitely watching the rest of this," she calls.

"Won't you mess up your nails?" he teases.

She pops out from the kitchen pinching a bag of popcorn between her thumb and index finger and ripping the plastic with her teeth, "Not my first rodeo," she smirks. "Plus the polish I use only takes about ninety seconds, but I appreciate your very sincere concern."

She comes out of the kitchen with a few bags of popcorn composited into a bowl and sets it on a dining room chair placed between them.

"It's about to start again," he mumbles sticking his hand into bowl grabbing a fistful of popcorn.

"Did he say where the next one would be?" She questioned while checking her nails for any sign of damage.

"Russia."

She carefully tosses popcorn in her mouth and sits comfortably with her back against the seat, "I don't think I'd do Russia for more than sixteen thousand a night," she laughs.

"I don't think I'd do anywhere for more than sixteen thousand a night," he qualifies.

The show comes back and they're both gaping at the extravagance and the elegance of the hotel suites. The order went Moscow, Dubai, Paris, Bahamas, and then Tokyo until Rome.

European architecture, elegant mahogany floors and walls, a private spa, paintings on the ceiling, and Jeff was in heaven.

Well, he could be in heaven for thirty thousand dollars a night.

"That one was my favorite," Jeff announces when it cut to a commercial.

"I think the one in Turkey was my favorite, or maybe the one in Paris. I don't know, I wouldn't be too picky if I could stay in either hotel," she grins. "But I'm not sure I'd go to Turkey, Paris maybe. Who even goes to Turkey?"

"People that have seen most of the world and are running out of places to go."

"Well, that certainty isn't me. I've never even left this country," she chuckles quietly.

"I've never even made it out of Colorado," he retorts.

"Right," she remembers. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why?" He chuckles.

She shrugs, "I don't know, you seem like the type that would have seen the world already."

He makes a face, "Okay—I'm not Britta you know."

"I'm not saying that's bad! I'm just saying you fooled me."

"Where have you been?" he asks after a moment of zoning out at the commercial that was playing.

"Arizona. Woo," she cheers unenthusiastically.

"Hey, it's one more place than me," he reaches for his tea to take a sip. "So the Grand Canyon in Arizona?"

She nods, "Yeah, it was a family vacation. The first and last," she sighs.

"Sounds fun," he teases.

"Oh, you have no idea, it was thrilling. It was before the divorce so as you can imagine it was a blast," she mumbles as the sarcasms drips from her lips. "The actual Grand Canyon was cool but other than that…"

"So that's it? The Grand Canyon?"

She shoots him a look.

"Hey, it's one more state than I've been to."

"Yeah, that's it. I've never really traveled to anywhere important or been anywhere cool, besides Denver."

"Denver isn't cool though," Jeff chuckled.

"Yeah it is, it's a city. It's fun."

"But you live in a subdivision of Denver."

She tries to come back with a counter, "Doesn't count. That's not traveling, go to a big city that you don't live in."

"Okay, Mister I've traveled nowhere, what are some places with the Jeff Winger stamp of approval?"

"I don't know? New York, Chicago, Vegas, Seattle maybe? Nashville if you're into country music? Beaches? Other countries?" He pulls from his head. "Those count, those are cool places. Just get out of Greendale."

"You should take your own advice," she rolls her eyes.

"I'm actually going up to California at the start of the month, so watch your tone with me," he points.

"Ooh, California," she smiles. "Are you going with…" she trails off, trying to think of someone that would go with him.

"Alone," he answers. "I'm just going to do my mom and her husband a favor. Rob invests in real estate in California and rents out these really nice multi-million dollar homes. He just got a property renovated so I'm going up there to take photos so he can rent it out. Oh, he's a millionaire by the way," he chuckles, "not some guy who's irresponsible with money or any of that."

"I didn't know she was remarried."

"Yeah, she remarried in ninety-seven or ninety-eight. So I didn't get a chance to reap the benefits of a rich step dad."

"Jeff!" She exclaims.

"What? I didn't!"

She rolls her eyes and tosses more popcorn in her mouth, "Still. So, are you going to do anything cool in California? Other than stay in a million dollar home."

"Eleven million dollar home," he corrects with a smile.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open but no words come out.

Their show comes back before Annie can express her want for him to see as much as he can on the drive up and while he's in California. They both quiet down as the host was showing off some place in Italy, then Athens, Vegas, Cannes which is in France? Then there was New York, somewhere in India, and finally number one at about sixty five thousand dollars a night, Geneva.

The suite was equipped with a billiard room, library, a grand piano, and its own private fitness center (which he's in love with). The suite took up the entire top floor of the hotel it was on and had twelve rooms. Jeff and Annie both gawk at the top of the line furnishings, the views of the lake and mountains, and of course, the price.

Jeff may be staying in a mansion but at least he isn't paying for it.

Sixty five thousand a night is a bit too much.

The special is over and they've successfully spent an entire evening doing nothing productive. Annie gets a few yawns out and Jeff figures he better get going, because she's working in the morning and he's somewhat tired himself.

When he gets home he heads for the shower before he has the chance to lie down and fall asleep. He gets under the warm spray, and thinks of the house. Honestly, he's excited not to leave the state or anything but to go stay in a really nice house before summer school starts.

But the moment he thinks of the fact that he's making the trip alone he feels kind of bad.

Unless…

No.

Maybe he could just send Annie a snarky post card saying 'I went through Utah, Arizona, and Nevada to get to California, take that.

He's washing his hair when he gets soap in his eye and his thoughts about California cease for the night.

#

The next morning he refuses to think of the idea of him and Annie in California together.

Just with the way he feels about her, he doesn't want to lose whatever friendship they have.

He has all these thoughts before he gets out of bed and he's already regretting letting himself think about that stupid house and the thought of him and Annie possibly occupying it.

#

He calls his mother before lunch to see if he could add a few days to his trip. She says 'of course' and then he asks if he could maybe take a friend up there. He feels like a teenager bringing a friend on a family vacation, but when his mother says its fine he stops caring- and somehow he does all of this without revealing that his friend is a girl named Annie.

He's all set to go up there on the first and come back on the eighth and she gives him a million "thank you's" for doing them the favor.

#

He stares at his phone for a good portion of the afternoon. He has composed the same message, or something similar, about a dozen different times. He takes out all the information about California, and beaches, and vacation, and just sends to Annie: "Give me a call when you're off work tonight."

#

He's watching old Friends reruns and tries to think of a safety topic. Something safe to fall back on when she asks him what he needed to talk to her about, something that didn't involve traveling with him. When he can't think of anything, he figures that he should at least ask her what her plans are for the beginning of next month.

After all there are people out there paying sixty five thousand a night to stay in some glamorous suite when Annie hasn't even seen the beach.

#

He ignores that weird twinge of nervousness in his stomach because he knows there isn't any logical reason to worry about asking Annie to go to the beach, or at least that's what he's convincing himself of. He doesn't think about it because he's just going to ask her and if she wants to worry about what it would look like to their friends he won't stop her. She's bound to worry about something anyway.

He decides to approach it in a very nonchalant manner, and then tries to push all thoughts about his trip away as he thinks about whether or not he should to go to the gym. He's not sure if he actually wants to go because he has a lot on his mind, but he digs through his closet and finds some gym clothes, and a pair of tennis shoes. He packs a bag of some toiletries and a few water bottles and throws them in the car and chooses to go, despite his very compelling argument that fighting himself about taking Annie to California was basically a workout anyway.

#

Annie taps her phone to end her phone call as her smile fades. She rests her back on the door and glares at her phone.

"What's wrong?" A figure in green pajamas asks from the kitchen.

"Abed!" Annie almost drops her phone as she clutches her heart. "Abed! When did you get there?"

He shrugs, "Since you came out of your room." He knits his eyebrows together and cocks his head to the side, "Was that Jeff?" He asks pointing a finger at her.

Her eyes go wide as she looks down, "Yeah," she sighs. "About that."

"What happened?"

"Just- he invited me to go on a trip with him," he voice goes higher than she anticipates. She sinks down against the door to the ground despite the fact she's wearing dress pants.

"And you don't want to go?" He guesses as he sits down next to her.

"No, I do," her voice takes on a dreamy quality, "It's to the beach and I've never seen a beach, and neither has he. It's a really nice opportunity because where we'd be staying is really nice. I just don't think it's a good idea for me to go… with him," she falters.

"Because you think feelings will resurface."

"No," she says more irritated this time, partially because he's somewhat right. "I just- I see why he'd want to take me because I've never seen the ocean and what not. It just isn't a good idea."

"What did he say exactly?" He shoves his hand into a popcorn bowl that he seemingly produces out of thin air and offers the bowl to Annie.

"Thanks," she says taking a handful. "Well, his mom's husband invests in real estate and rents out these spectacular homes, like multimillion dollar mansions. And Jeff told me he needs to go up there and update the pictures they use to rent out this one particular home, so he asked me if I wanted to go with. I think he felt awkward about asking, I'm thinking he didn't want to seem like he was coming on to me… which would explain why he was being extremely apologetic," she mumbles.

"Apologetic how?"

She sighs and readjusts herself against the door, "He ended almost all of his sentences with 'sorry'. Like, 'Hey, sorry, you know how I'm going up to California, sorry, do you maybe want to go, sorry, I know you've never been so I figured I ask, sorry,'" she mocks him in a deep "man voice."

"He didn't want to seem too forward about it."

"Which means he didn't mean for this to be taken that way."

"Which means you could go because you don't have anything to worry about, romantically speaking that is. You both feel the same way about each other… Right?"

"Yeah, no of course. Totally platonic," she assures him, and tries to convince herself that that's all true. "How could you be so sure we don't have anything to worry about?"

Abed stuffs his face with popcorn and begins with his mouth full, "You had the biggest crush on Troy."

Her eyes go wide and she smacks his arm, "Abed!"

"What," he mumbles as he swallows, "you did."

"Okay, and what's your point."

"You lived with him and nothing happened. You both have walked in on each other naked. You once found his stash of condoms right in front of him and he's found…" Annie gives him a glare that says don't you dare say it, "…girl-toy-things," he finishes quickly and Annie slaps his arm again.

"He told you!" She gasps. She feels her blood rising to her cheek, and she just knows Abed can see her blushing.

"My point is," he started, ignoring her question completely, "that you've survived living with Troy. I think you can survive a vacation with Jeff."

He pauses for a moment to get another handful of popcorn and tosses it in his mouth, "What I'm saying is there might not be that much of a reason to worry."

"So you think I should go?"

"I think you should do what you want."

"I want to go," she whispers up to the ceiling more but more to herself than to him.

"Then go," he says wiping his mouth with the corner of his sleeve.

She shuts her eyes, and knocks her head against the wooden door again.

The beach was somewhere she always associated with colorful beach balls, popsicles and those summertime Bath and Body Works candles, and to her that's what summer was. It was hot sand and cold water, sugary cocktails and colorful swimsuits with big floppy hats. Just the thought of the beach sent her there. Being able to step out into the waters and have the wave's crash at her ankles, looking out and seeing a flat blue surface until the sky met the water, getting able to cross something off her list of places to see and…

"You're thinking about the beach aren't you?" It's less of a question and more of a statement.

"Get out of my brain, Abed."

#

She tells Jeff that she had to check with her boss to make sure she could get the time off. It isn't a lie, but what she really needed that time for was to convince herself to go or to convince herself not to go. Since talking with Abed she's thought about how excited she is to pack, and buy a new swimsuit, but she's also thought of the ways she could tell him she can't go.

She wakes up the next morning gets ready for work and pushes everything out of her mind. She gets to the police station and sits down behind the desk that she shares with her co-worker and sighs audibly.

"What's wrong?" Amber asks.

"Nothing," she says running her hand on the back of her neck. "I must have slept funny."

Amber nods and gets back to filing a pile of paperwork.

By one o'clock she's already switched her mind back and forth between going and not going several times. She feels stressed and panicky and makes a mess of the paperwork she's been trying to sort through. At some point while she's working she looks up at the calendar the police department has hanging on the wall. It's a year of beaches and this month it's a picture of some hammock overlooking a Mexican beach. She figures she could either go to see a real beach or she could have a calendar taunt her for the rest of the year.

So by two o'clock she's already spoken with her boss and is granted the time off.


	2. Chapter 2

Spoilers: Current  
Disclaimer: I don't own Community.

Author's Note:

Thanks to my wonderful friend Caitlin for the beta (Wandering Violinist). I dedicate all 6,758 words to her, thanks girl.

The title comes from Of Monsters and Men's song From Finner.

#

It's a bright, sunny Monday when Jeff and Annie embark upon their two day journey to Malibu, California. She spent the night before worrying about all the unlikely scenarios that could ruin everything between them. It's not like she's never thought... _those_ thoughts before; but she's just nervous because she's going to be with him nonstop for the next seven days.

She's trying to push her thoughts away until she's alone and feels somewhat safe. She'll think about all this some other time when they get to Malibu and when she has her own room so she can think safely. But for now he's driving down the highway with her in the passenger's seat.

Her eyes drift along the curves of the power lines as they slowly rise and then begin to fall again. She decides to count the transition towers until she forgets what she's thinking about.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

"Hey, when do you want to have lunch?"

Damnit, Jeff.

"Whenever is fine."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little, but you're the driver- you can pick when."

"I'm not hungry, I was just asking if you were..."

"Well... I can wait, you know- if you want."

It's awkward. Painful almost. Not to mention silent. Who drives in silence? Freaks of nature like Jeff Winger, that's who.

"So do you just hate music, or is the radio too mainstream for you?" She asks before she can really think.

It's this type of behavior that is going to get her into trouble.

"I'm not Britta," he scoffs. "The radio is different in different places, 95.7 doesn't work everywhere."

"Really, Jeff? 95.7? As in top forty? That's the music you listen to," she smiles smugly.

She can't tell if he's actually appalled or if he's trying to be funny. "What, no!"

"What do you listen to then?"

"My music," He blindly reaches for the glove box, which she opens for him. He fishes out an auxiliary cord and plugs it in. "Not that you would like it."

"Well who do you like, besides Dave," she smirks.

"That's Dave Matthews Band to you."

She rolls her eyes at him.

"Anyone else?"

"Tom Waits, I don't really know, Rob Thomas?" He offers as he mentally runs through the songs and artists on his iPod. "I guess I tend to like songs individually, I don't really focus on who sings it. I have some Maroon 5, but I wouldn't consider myself a big fan. Their older stuff, not like 'Payphone' or anything."

She shakes her head at his aimless mumbling.

He pulls out his iPod, connects it to the speaker than tosses it to Annie, "Pick."

"You pick," she tosses it back.

"I'm driving," he says flatly as he flings it in her lap.

She sighs as she struggles to find his music.

"Okay," she begins. "Beatles, I know them. Coldplay? Really?"

"What's wrong with Coldplay?" He defends.

"Nothing," she laughs, "That just surprises me, that's all."

She looks too see what Coldplay songs he has and is half amused and half disappointed when she sees only one song, "Oh, boo. It's just 'Clocks'."

He laughs in confusion, "Okay?"

"Dave Matthews Band as expected… David Bowie, The Eagles...?"

He sighs again.

"Hey! I know some of these," she defends as she scrolls down. "Rem? I don't think I know them."

"R.E.M.," He corrects shaking his head. "How do you know Barenaked Ladies and not R.E.M.?"

"Know it all."

"You know Annie, I've never actually thrown anyone out of a moving car before."

"Jeff!" She gasps with laughter at his empty threat. "Oh look, The Smiths," she cheers at a band she actually knows in hopes to redeem herself, "I like them."

She sees a familiar album cover and immediately recognizes it. "Aww, you have Train," she smiles.

"Holy crap just pick something," he demands so he doesn't have to listen to anymore of Annie's musical ignorance.

He's somewhat shocked when he begins to hear 'Get To Me' playing and not 'Hey Soul Sister' or something more popular.

"So... you like Train?"

#

They stop for lunch and gas. They're three hours away in some small town and starving. Jeff's pumping gas and she walks into the convenient store to stretch her legs. She takes one look at the disgusting floors, the dusty window fixtures, and the Slurpee machine that probably hasn't been cleaned in the past week and opts against using the bathroom here. Trying to not let her skin crawl, she pretends to be interested in some of the merchandise which consists of cheap sunglasses and magnets that have the Colorado flag in the shape of marijuana leaf. She rolls her eyes and steps out of the store discreetly in hopes that the guy at the cash register doesn't think she's stealing something.

She swiftly walks over to Jeff who's leaning on his car while on his phone. As much as she hates to admit it, he looks cool with his stupid sunglasses, leaning on his car in a stupidly cool way. He makes her think about all those thoughts of hers she been trying to push out of her mind.

Right, those thoughts.

"You know, you really shouldn't be on your phone while pumping gas."

He jumps a little at her seemingly sudden appearance next to him.

"I'm looking at places to eat."

She sighs in irritation and sits back in the car and closes her eyes, thinking about literally anything else-well at least she's trying to.

Her thought process is interrupted by Jeff getting into the car.

"Sandwiches okay?" He asks.

"Sure, how far out?"

"There is a Subway down the street," he looks behind him to back up and turn out of the gas station. "And it's either this or a Burger King."

"Well, we could go to Subway if we didn't tell the Dean," she smiles. "I don't want fast food."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to mess up all of this," he smiles haughtily as he points to his abs.

It's not like she can disagree, but she doesn't want to stroke his ego so she leaves him with, "Oh my God," as she rolls her eyes and heads for the passenger seat.

#

They sit down in a Subway within fifteen minutes. When she asks why they can't just eat in the car he responds with a laundry list of car rules, which shouldn't really shock her, but it does.

"I can't believe I've never gone over this with you before." She thinks he's pretending to be annoyed or maybe he really is. Either way she doesn't actually feel bad.

She rolls her eyes and contradicts herself with a smile. "Sorry," she innocently holds her hands up. She's filling up her drink with ice as he barks at her while he waits behind her to do the same. "So what are they? You pick the music, no BNL?" She leaves him to find a table.

Quickly coming back to her, he corrects her, "I have to approve of the music we listen to" he qualifies. "And BNL would not be something I would approve of which brings us to rule number two: No calling them BNL. Don't correct my driving, no eating, no feet on the dashboard, no dirty shoes."

"The second rule isn't really one of your rules is it?"

"It is now."

She takes a sip of her drink before unwrapping her sandwich, "Yeaaahh, I'm still going to call them BNL. Just for you," she smiles.

#

They're on the road by three and at the Colorado-Utah state line by four. She makes him pull onto the shoulder of the road to take pictures, and honestly, he isn't surprised. She gets out of his car and takes pictures of the signs and he leans back nonchalantly on the back of his car. He smiles to himself. He's not exactly ecstatic right now, but he's not upset at anything, he's just content. He sees her taking pictures with her phone, walking around, and he can tell that Annie is in her element. Her loose shirt is flowing with her hair in the wind, and she's just simply occupied by her surroundings, and it's almost surreal- that feeling of being content. And he smiles, for no other reason other than that he can.

"Jeff," she hollers.

He doesn't say anything, just shuffles over the bare minimum distance.

She cocks her head to the side with a smile and holds up her phone.

"Nope," he shakes his head and turns back for the car.

She sighs and tries to catch up to him, "Please Jeff. Just one picture, with me- or just you, I don't care."

"Why would I need a picture of me? Or... Why would you need one?"

"Um, because this would be the first time you went out of state," He can hear the duh-doy in her voice. "You never take any pictures and-"

He pivots around and holds his hand up, and she almost runs into him, "Annie, I'm a normal human being. I don't need to have a virtual scrapbook on my phone to survive, I don't need pictures to remember things."

She stops for a moment, "Is… is this because of what the group would say? Because I wasn't planning on uploading a California 2014 album to Facebook if that's your concern."

"Wh- no! Annie, all I'm saying is that I don't need a picture," he leans back against the car. "Besides, you're the one taking tons of pictures of the Welcome to Utah sign," he throws in with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"C'mon Annie, put the phone down," he reaches over and pulls her phone from her hand.

"I just might consider it if that advice wasn't coming from you," she retorts.

He makes a grand gesture to the landscape in front of them, "Take it in. Live a little, Edison," he says with a condescending sneer.

She hits his arm before snagging her phone, "Jerk."

#

"Six bedrooms!"

He raises his now watered down drink and points the straw at her, "Forty-two hundred square feet, too."

"Oh my- do you have any pictures?"

"No, that's kind the whole point of going up here. They just finished the house so they need pictures so they can lease it out to people."

"So it's already been furnished?"

"Yup."

She squeals in excitement and he winces, "God, Annie."

"How far is it to the beach?"

"There's a private beach," he says carefully knowing that she'll probably emit a high pitched sound.

He doesn't hear her say anything so he looks over to see an open mouth stare and it makes him chuckle.

#

"Mumford and Sons?"

"Yeah, Mumford and Sons, do you know them?"

He chuckles, "Who are you?"

"What?" she gasps.

"Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey? It's like Britta hijacked your iTunes library."

"So," she shrugs, "We have some similar tastes in music."

"I find it hard to believe that Britta likes 1960's Jazz music."

"I said _some_ similar tastes in music," she rolls her eyes. "My mom listened to a lot of Jazz music so that's why…"

"No, I like it, it's different," he finishes lamely. "Britta on the other hand goes out of her way to find music that isn't popular or well-liked and listens to that. Then, you know, bitches about when the radio starts playing it."

"Jeff!" She scolds with a laugh.

"You know it's true."

She sighs and goes back to her music library, "Do you know Of Monsters and Men? And 'Little Talks' does not count."

"You _are_ Britta."

#

Turns out Jeff wasn't missing much by staying in Colorado because Utah is pretty much the same thing. The highway is long and narrow and vanishes behind an upcoming hill far in the horizon. It looks like the same scenery he's been looking at for hours. The only difference is that this place has a different name and he feels somewhat accomplished that he's somewhere new.

It's a poetic thought, so he pushes it out of his mind almost instantly.

#

"Middle names are stupid, Annie."

"That doesn't change the fact that you have one. What is it?"

"I'm not going to saying it."

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Whatever, I'll tell you mine. It's probably the most generic middle name ever."

"Lynn?"

She shakes her head.

"Ann?"

"Annie Ann?"

"Okay so it's not Ann."

"Jeff, it starts with an 'E'."

"Emily?" He guesses.

"No!"

"Elizabeth?"

"Finally!"

"Annie Elizabeth Edison," he mumbles quietly to himself; testing the words in his mouth.

She takes an awkward, audible breath between her teeth, "Yup, that's my name." She forced a small laugh, "I've always hated it."

"Why? It's fine."

"It's so generic," she corrects.

"Really?"

"Britta Elizabeth Perry, Vicky Elizabeth Jenkins," she spits out a few examples. "I'd rather have some gross middle name that no one has than have one that is _so original_."

"It could be worse. Your middle name could be Tobias."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry."

#

"What the hell is this?"

"Foster the People! You know, 'Pumped Up Kicks'?"

He shakes his head in disapproval.

"What? They're good!"

"Get it off."

She huffs, "Britta showed them to me."

"You're really going to take music advice from the person who has the American Horror Story soundtrack on her phone?"

Annie shrugs and changes the artist to the Jeff approved Mumford and Sons, "That show is so weird, she tried to get me to watch it with her."

"Does Abed watch it? It's on my Netflix queue."

"No Britta watches it," she immediately slaps her hand over her mouth once she realizes the information she just gave him.

"Wait, does Britta-" He looks at Annie and sees her wide eyes as a dead giveaway.

"Who all does have my Netflix password?"

#

"What's the dinner plan?"

"Next city I drive by."

She pulls out her phone and checks the time and location, "Twenty five minutes until the next somewhat populated area."

"What's around?"

"Not a whole lot of fast food-"

"Good."

"A ton of diners though."

"Mmhm, small town diners, so healthy."

"Oh shut up, you're so pretentious."

He points to his whole body, "Do you think that all of this just maintains itself?" He asks with a smirk.

"I think your ego does some of the work for you."

"Annie!" He gasps like he's been offended. "What are you implying?"

"Live a little, Winger," she steals his words from earlier.

"You're ridiculous."

He gives in to one of the eighty diners (probably eighty, more or less), because of the ratings on Yelp that Annie was reading out loud. Once they walk in it's the most cliché dinner "from the fifties" that he's ever seen. Checker board floor, a jukebox in the corner, red cracked vinyl seats in booths and of course a neon clock on the wall. Annie cheers at the cheesy interior and calls it adorable as he rolls his eyes at the overly elaborate decor.

He orders some special hamburger of the day without cheese, and she orders a number one, whatever that is.

"Why do you care what you look like?" she asks while sipping on her water.

"Because I like being healthy."

"I don't buy it."

"Okay then."

"No I didn't mean to sound mean, I just- you're fine, you don't have anything to worry about."

"Thanks?"

"It was a complement."

He nods and takes a small french fry. "It's not a sickness, you know."

Or an actual problem.

"That's not healthy though," she offers tentatively.

"Well neither is staying up to three AM to finish a paper."

She gives a small laugh, "Touché."

#

By eight they're back on the road.

The first fifteen minutes is spent arguing over who gets to play their music. Eventually Jeff wins with the argument that he is carting her around cross country and "this is my thanks?"

They listen to more Dave Matthews Band and by the time they hit Arizona Annie has her favorites and Jeff feels proud for having her say she'll download a few songs.

They laugh and bicker about stupid things on TV and movies.

"Are you doing anything this summer?" She asks.

"I'm starting a new course for summer school in two weeks."

"Two weeks!" She scolds him, "Do you have anything prepared?"

"Yes, Annie, breathe."

"What are you teaching?"

He sighs, "History."

"Do you know anything about history?"

"Yeah, I actually thought about majoring in it when I got to college but I never actually... yeah."

"So professor Winger is teaching history," she nods her head in approval.

"Yeah, American history in the twentieth century."

"Wow, that's really awesome Jeff," she smiles to herself. "I'm really proud. I just think that teaching is, I don't know- so you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, my friend Blake told me he loved you class... You called him ski cap."

"Right, I remember him," he can't help but smile like a proud moron. "So why'd he like it?" He can't help but wonder; he wasn't exactly teacher of the year.

She shrugs, "You'd have to ask him."

"Hmm, that's... surprising."

"Well, I can tell you like teaching. No matter what you say I know you enjoy it."

He laughs, "I'm afraid I've found something I don't hate doing."

"And it'll be a subject you're passionate about."

"I'm not sure passionate is the right word, I tolerate history."

She smiles brightly ignoring his negativity, "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm happy too."

He expects her say something but she just stays silent so he just says the first thing that comes to mind.

"How is your job?"

She sighs, "Honestly, I can't complain. Reception work is hard but enjoyable. I'm just glad I found something to spend my time doing and that I'm out of pharmaceuticals… it didn't feel right."

"What about school?"

"Not much longer at Greendale then I'm transferring to Montagne College... I hope."

"Montagne?" He's surprised, even though he shouldn't be.

"If I can get in, their criminal justice program is top notch."

"How far is that?"

"Like twenty minutes away from downtown Greendale."

"It's that close?"

"Yup, that makes it my number one choice."

"What about number two through forty?" he sneers which earns him a slap on the arm from him.

"Sam Houston State University," she begins, "That's Texas. Or University of Tennessee and that's all I have, thanks."

"So, out of state?"

"Yeah, the best part is that my brother is moving up to Texas soon, so if I went there I wouldn't be alone."

"And Tennessee?"

"I would be terrified but I could do it."

"You'd be alone?"

"Yeah."

"You're mom or dad wouldn't help you?"

"Mom no, dad maybe. But I don't exactly want their help, besides there is so much money to be given out for scholarships. I actually have thirty thousand for any Colorado college plus all the money I haven't been using to pay rent," she sighs.

"Well I hope Montagne works out."

"If not I'm going to apply for financial aid in other states too, but honestly at this point I'm just happy to have found something I want to do".

She looks over to see him concentrating on the road. "We both found something we want to do," he mutters.

"Ohh, so you _do_ want to teach."

He makes a "meh" sound and sighs. "It's not a bad way to pass the time."

She rolls her eyes and rests her head on the window. "We lucked out didn't we," her eyes meet his and she smiles back at him.

"We really did."

#

It's nine thirty when Annie feels drowsy and rests her eyes. She knows she won't get much sleep because she could never sleep for very long in cars, so she settles for closing her eyes. Typically she would feel bad for sleeping especially because Jeff had been driving for the whole day but she stops feeling sorry for him because he turned down all her offers to drive because "only Jeff is allowed to drive."

She feels his eyes on her but she's too relaxed to open hers, or care. She smiles slightly and tilts her head to the window and slowly drifts off.

#

"Annie," he whispers. "Annie, we're at the hotel." He gently shakes her awake.

She groans and yawns, "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours."

She slowly opens her eyes, careful to not let the car light burn her eyes.

"I'm going to check in."

"Wait- Jeff where are we?"

"A Quality Inn in Overton."

"Nevada?"

"Yes."

She nods her head.

"Are you awake or are you going to fall back asleep?"

"No, I'm up, I'm up," she says as she unbuckles her seatbelt.

"Okay, get what you need out of your suitcase, I'm going to get a room."

"Alright," she groans as she stretches to get out of the car.

She gets what she needs out of the back of his car and runs into the hotel from the creepy parking lot. Jeff is sitting in some chair on his phone and as soon as he sees Annie he locks his car and gets up and shows her to the room.

"You can shower first," he offers.

It takes a moment before she can really hear and understand him. "Thanks," she mumbles.

He wants to fall back and go to bed, but he needs to shower and he's been sitting all day, so he opts against it and decides to stand.

He hears the water shuts off and he still doesn't move his eyes from the invisible spot he's been staring at for the past ten minutes. Moments later she appears in the doorframe, clad in a Greendale shirt and sweats, he sees her in his peripheral vision but doesn't do anything about it.

"Jeff?"

"Yeah?" His head snaps over to her.

"Are you-?"

"Tired? Yes."

She snickers as she wraps her hair in a towel. Without another word he grabs his clothes to change into and his toiletries and heads to the warm humid bathroom where Annie left the smell of girly peachy soap in her wake. His stomach gets this fluttery feeling and-

Nope, he's not going to go there.

Not now.

Or anytime in the foreseeable future.

He walks out of the bathroom with clear thoughts thanks to his shower. He goes about his nightly routine as if he was alone back in Greendale as a way to prolong walking out and sleeping in the bed next to Annie's bed.

At least it's a room with two beds.

But that doesn't mean this situation is ideal though.

Thankfully he walks out and sees Annie curled on her side with her lashes fanned on her cheek. He walks to turn the lamp out and he pretends he didn't just smile at her sleeping peacefully and falls back into his bed.

"G'night Annie," he hardly mumbles.

"Night," he hears a faint murmur from the other bed and ignores that little twinge in his stomach.

#

He hears is incoherent giggling and feels pulling on the left side of his body.

"Get uuuup!"

He groans and squints his eyes to see a shadowy figure that looks a whole lot like Annie tugging at his sheets.

"I have breakfast!"

"Ughhhh," he groans into a pillow. He blindly reaches his hand out to push her away but misses her completely. She dodges his hand and giggles before slapping his hand down.

"Ugh! You're so lazy, come on!"

Eventually he rolls over and stretches to wake up and reaches for his phone on the night stand to check the time.

"It's eight," he says flatly.

She's folding her clothes from yesterday and doesn't even turn her head to give him a second glance, "And..."

"And let me sleep," he presses his head back in the pillow.

"Here eat," she gives him a plate filled with the foods of a typical hotel breakfast, fruit, eggs, toast, waffles and sausage. "And if you whine about the caloric value of these food I will pour this maple syrup down your back."

"Well good morning to you too."

She flashes a smile and goes back to packing up her things.

She's dressed ready for the day wearing a pair of cut off shorts and a white summery blouse, with her sunglasses on her head like she's ready to go.

"Have you eaten?" He asks while popping a piece of pineapple in his mouth.

"I got myself a plate," she points to the plate sitting on the desk across from his bed.

"Eat, pack later. You know we do have all day right?"

"Yeah, but we need to go grocery shopping once we get there and it's like six, seven hours?"

"About seven, but I'm the driver so if I saw we leave in an hour we leave in an hour," he chuckles.

She groans and sits at the desk to eat her breakfast. She toes the floor as she maneuvers around in the roll-y chair and peels her banana.

"What time did you wake up?"

She shrugs, "About an hour ago."

He winces like her statement physically hurt him, "Why?"

"Couldn't fall back asleep. What time did you go to bed?"

"One? One thirty? When I got out of the shower you were out," he chuckles.

"I was tired!"

"So are you used to not sleeping in or-?"

"Well, I get up at seven to go to work, but when I try to sleep in I can't. Plus Abed only sleeps about five hours a night so he's up making noise before the sun," she rolls her eyes.

"Fun."

"Very," she agrees as she picks at her waffle with her fork.

They fill the next twenty minutes with random small talk and TV surfing until Annie deems it necessary to get up and start moving around again, and it isn't until eight fifty when Jeff finally moves from his bed.

True to his word they are on the road at nine, but he insists on stopping for coffee because he didn't get enough of his "beauty sleep".

#

Nevada for the most part is boring. Just a bunch of long, straight roads with desert surroundings, so there isn't a whole lot to play I Spy with. So Annie just plugs her phone in for music without much protest from Jeff and they pretty much enjoy the peace.

There's this feeling that Annie can't quite name but it's from being able to look out and see a straight road becoming more and narrower as it goes on. Maybe it's from the sun shining, or the fact that California is somewhere on the end of the road and Greendale is somewhere in the rearview mirror. The fast and upbeat music accompanies them as he drives seventy miles per hour down the highway while the sun shines through a cloudless sky. And for the first time in a while she feels carless with her sunglasses on and her hair down and there is something about that that makes her feel invincible.

It's her inner wanderlust bursting at the seams.

#

"Oh my god Jeff, that's nothing!"

"What, like you have a better story?!"

"Yeah, once there was this guy outside my building and he got stabbed so I applied a tourniquet and drove him to the hospital."

His eyes grow wide, "What the hell, I'm just now hearing about this?"

She shrugs, "I figured everyone would just panic."

He nods furiously, "Um, yeah, we would."

"Whatever, it's a better story than calling the cops on a hit-and-run accident."

"They caught the guy! And he didn't have insurance..."

"So that's your big heroic story?"

"I'm sorry I didn't know this was the hero olympics." He retorts lamely.

"You're just mad because my story is better," she beams petulantly.

"There's irony here."

#

They cross into California around eleven thirty and he doesn't even have to look at her to know that she wants him to stop the car and take pictures. Against his will he pulls over and she practically runs over to the sign that says "Welcome to California". He gets out of the car and the wind is relatively stronger than he expected but not entirely unwelcome. He leans on the back of his car door and lets the sun soak into his skin as he snickers at Annie taking a ridiculous amount of pictures.

And this time he allows the floodgate that holds all of his poetic thoughts to open.

#

"So I guess him and Rachel are pretty serious?"

"I guess. There have been a lot of girls that he 'talks to' but this is the first time that he's really had an actual girlfriend."

"Do you think she'll be around for a while?"

She sighs, "I hope so- she really understands Abed."

"You don't think she's just filling a void Troy left behind do you?"

"At first I did," she admits. "Then I realized how alike they were and how much they liked each other." Jeff eyes her and shows a sliver of a smile. "What's that face for?"

"I'm not making a face!"

"Yes you are! You're smiling!" she laughs.

"I'm just happy for him that's all."

"Aww."

"Oh hush."

#

"I can't believe you offered to eat fast food," she smiles.

"Annie," he sighs as he kills the engine. "I asked if you wanted to try In-and-Out Burger, you said yes and now we're here."

"I know what you're doing," she smiles condescendingly.

"Getting made fun of for going where you want to eat?"

"No, asking me where I want to eat knowing I'd agree to anywhere and then suggesting where you want to go and making it seem like it was my idea."

"Oh my God," he rolls his eyes and gets out of the car. It's not as hot as he was expecting but it certainly isn't pleasant so he strides for the restaurant.

She laughs at his indirect surrender and opens the car door. "Admit it, you secretly love fast food but you cover it up with your protein shakes and sit ups."

He's already halfway across the parking lot and Annie's trying to catch up. "Come on Jeff, don't be like that!"

He chuckles to himself and abruptly turns around, stopping her in her tracks. "Annie!" He holds his hand up. "First of all, In-and-Out burger is something that will never be in Greendale. Second, protein shakes? I'm not some dumb frat boy with a backwards baseball cap. And third, don't think you have me all figured out. I'm full of surprises."

"Surrrree."

The cool burst of air feels good and welcoming against the harsh heat of California's weather. The place is filled with tourists like them. There's a family of four with a whiney seven or eight year old boy, a couple that's probably newly married, and a family with three teenagers that are all on their phones. They order and Annie offers to pay because "you got dinner and the hotel room and it's the least I can do," and he accepts without an argument and goes to find a booth to sit in.

They both get their hamburgers with fries and a strawberry shake to split.

"Is this everything you dreamed of?"

"More," he retorts with a forced smile.

"You," she begins pointing a french fry at him, "are so full of it."

He snatches the fry from her hand and tosses it in his mouth. "Surprises," he corrects, "I'm full of surprises."

#

They stop for gas and they're back on the road with only a few more hours to go.

The road so far isn't much more interesting to look at- but at least it isn't Nevada. It's less flat, more hilly, but still dry and hot and not very appealing; so other than talking to Jeff, there isn't a whole lot to do.

It's not like she's complaining, it's just they've been together for more than twenty-four hours now so they're starting to run out of conversation topics that aren't the weather or the price of gas.

She doesn't actually mean to fall asleep but she shuts her eyes and all the sounds of the car gently fade as she dozes.

#

"Where are we?"

"About an hour and a half away."

"Sorry, I fell asleep."

"Don't be," he shrugs as he turns the music up now that she's awake. "Are you up for grocery shopping tonight?"

"What'd you say… an hour and a half away?" She mumbles checking her phone for the time.

"We'd be getting there around six-ish."

"Yeah, let's do it tonight- just go ahead and get it knocked out," she sighs and closes her eyes.

"Are you going back to sleep?"

She sighs and relaxes into her seat, "No, I'm just resting my eyes."

He chuckles, "Okay.

#

"How much do you want for groceries?" Annie says pulling out her wallet from her purse at the checkout line.

He stops her, "I'll put it on my card then we'll look at the receipt when we get to the house."

She ignores him and continues to dig through her purse, "Is eighty enough?"

He starts to load the conveyer belt with food, "Annie, aren't you the one here who is struggling to pay rent?" He remarks.

"The only other funds I've contributed to this trip was buying lunch!"

"You know, I would need to eat regardless of you coming up here-"

He's cut off by Annie opening his hand and giving him four twenties.

He gives her an over-exaggerated sigh and two of her twenties back.

"We're even," he mumbles folding up the money and handing the lady his credit card.

#

They spend about thirty minutes driving from the grocery store in Santa Monica to the house in Malibu. It's the first time either of them have seen the ocean and Annie can't bring herself to look out her window on the right side even though the sun is beginning to shine right into her eyes. On Jeff's side lies the jagged coast line, and the waves crashing into the stranded boulders in the ocean. Between the greens in the vegetation, the blues, purples, pinks, and oranges in the sky, and the blues in the ocean with the glittering reflection of the sun, she just knows that she was made to see the beach.

She sinks into her seat and sighs contently. The windows are down and Jeff's music is playing as they drive down the winding Pacific Coast highway.

Everyone may say California is overrated, but this is perhaps the most beautiful landscape she's ever been in.

#

Before they even pull up to the house Jeff knows he's going to be impressed. The surrounding homes in the neighborhood are all of Italian or Mediterranean styled architecture- basically mini mansions.

"Okay the address is forty-seven." He reads off the GPS on his phone while he drives down the street. "Ah- here it is."

He pulls up into the drive way and looks over at Annie, who's quietly sitting slack jawed with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap.

The house on the other end of the driveway was a three story stone house with wood garage doors and arched windows and the beach as the backyard. Slowly and silently, he drives up and parks the car.

"It's so amazing."

He nods, "It is."

"I thought houses like this only existed in House Hunters."

He chuckles, "Right?"

She slowly unbuckles her seatbelt and steps out of the car without blinking, like she was afraid she would wake herself from an amazing dream she was having. He follows suit and refuses to take his eyes off the house.

"I can't believe we're really in California!" She squeals and jumps around.

He chuckles at her energy but any words that come to him instantly fail him; besides the moment is too perfect for them anyway. It was just him, Annie, this incredible house and six days in front of them to spend together.

#

She feels like a small child exploring like she was playing hide and go seek. She abandons her suitcase in the garage and runs throughout the house. She counts six bedrooms and lost count of the bathrooms midway through her travels around the house. There's a media room, a huge kitchen, a dining room with a huge table that could seat ten, maybe twelve? She doesn't care all that much once she sees the view from the living room. It's a wall covered in windows showcasing miles and miles of the shimmering Pacific Ocean with a pink, orange and purple sky above. She stops in her tracks and slowly approaches the windows, her hand drags over the stone wall, feeling the ridged bumps, and she knows it's not a dream.

Jeff is in the far back of the kitchen with his back resting on the edge of the granite countertops. He's amazed by the spectacular view, but more so amused by Annie's enthusiasm.

"Well?" He interrupts the silence.

She tears her eyes off the view to turn to face him. "Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it."

He nods and approaches her as slowly as she walks toward the wall of windows.

They admire their surroundings in silence until he softly interrupts it one last time, "I'm so glad we're here."

#

They claim rooms.

Annie leaves Jeff with the master bedroom and she takes the room next door to his with a conjoining balcony.

He falls on the bed with a sore back and a huge sigh. The furnishings around him remind him so much of his mother, it's almost surreal. He knows there's a ninety-nine percent chance that his mom decorated the place, judging by the rich, warm colors mixed with the Italian style of the house and the furnishings. It's home to him simply because it reminds him of his home growing up. Of course it wasn't this glamorous and lavish, but it's the home he knew his mother always wanted and the thought of her picking out fabric swatches and buying furniture that wasn't from Ikea made him happy. His mother was finally doing something that she wanted to do and that's what made him smile.

"Relaxing?" Annie's voice woke him from his trance.

"Yeah," he says with a grunt as he pulls himself up to a sitting position. "You would be too if you drove for two days."

"Hey!" She pulls herself from her pose on the doorframe. "I offered dozens of times, but 'only Jeff Winger drives his car' so you can't talk mister."

"Whatever, it doesn't change the fact that I'm tired."

She saunters into his room to the edge of his bed, "Do you mind?"

He pats his bed before he falls back on the pillows and the bed shifts beneath his back as she sits on the plush mattress.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asks staring at the view of the ocean from three stories up.

"Food."

"You're no help."

"I don't know, what do we have?"

"Seriously, we just bought groceries an hour ago."

"I'm too busy relaxing to hear you nagging me."

She rolls her eyes, "Okay, we've got spaghetti, chicken, sandwiches, frozen pizza... um?"

"The first one."

"Spaghetti?"

"Sure."

"Alright," she eases off the bed. "Help me put away groceries."

"Ugh, you're the worst."

#

It's ten by the time she gets out of the shower. She wraps a towel around her body and goes about her nightly routine in the larger than life bathroom. It's empty but humid and warm and smells of the soap she uses and she's in paradise. The beach obviously is great but this bathroom is every girls dream... seriously. The Jacuzzi tub is big enough for two people and she's very tempted to put it to use at some point.

Almost as soon as she pictures a nice warm bubble bath she regrets it because amongst imagining the smell of lavender bubbles, and flickering candles, she isn't alone.

She shakes that ridiculous thought out of her mind and runs a comb through her hair.

Everything is fine. That's what, the first somewhat romantic thought she's had in the past how many days? And it wasn't even on purpose; it just jumped into her mind- so it's totally unfair to count that. Right?

See, she's perfectly capable of not screwing this up.


	3. Chapter 3

Spoilers: Current  
Disclaimer: I don't own Community.

Author's Note:

Thanks to my wonderful friend Caitlin for the beta (Wandering Violinist).

The title comes from Of Monsters and Men's song From Finner.

#

It's seven thirty when Annie wakes up. Like most times when she wakes up in a new place, she forgets she's not at home and panics for a moment until she remembers the details. Her back arches against the bed as she yawns and stretches. She turns her head to face the window and she smiles at the scenery.

Beyond the bumps of the pillows and comforter and through the glass doors, she sees the ocean glittering as the sun touches its surface and the waves gracefully crash on the beach. It reminds her of the pool at her father's apartment complex. Of course the pool wasn't as big and beautiful as the one Mother Nature had so kindly provided for her, but it reminds her of the water that her younger self would cannonball into. She would hold her breath and go underwater to lie down at the bottom of the pool for as long as she could, and she'd see the water moving above her and the refracted rays of light shining into the pool. She would lift her arm up and push it though the water, as if she was trying to hold a ray of sun. As she got older all the teenage girls didn't want to get their hair wet or ruin their makeup, but she never cared. Even at sixteen she would cannonball into the pool and the cold water would run between the hairs on her head just like it had before.

And even now, years later, she still has this love for swimming and summer.

She flips the covers off of her body and slides off the bed then walks over to the sliding glass door. A breeze greets her when she gently opens the door and she can hear the faint sounds of the waves. She steps barefoot onto the balcony and she tiptoes over to a chair, careful not to wake up Jeff; whose room was next to hers, connected by the balcony. The chair cushions she sits on radiate warmth though her tee shirt and she closes her eyes and lets the sounds of the beach relax her.

#

Jeff walks downstairs to find Annie humming and tapping her foot on the hard wood floors as she cracks eggs into a bowl. He rubs his eyes and yawns, which gets her attention.

"Morning," she says without looking up from the bowl of whatever she was making.

He just nods at her with a grunt, and she chuckles to herself as she tosses an eggshell into the trash.

Without looking up she points to a steaming blue mug sitting on the counter, "I made coffee."

"Thanks." He reaches over for the mug and lets the warmth wake him up.

He rests against the edge of the counter and watches Annie as she manages to stir whatever is in the bowl.

"Are pancakes alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he says more awake this time. He takes a sip of his coffee and swallows slowly to let the heat of the liquid warm him up.

She smiles at him and then continues to go about making breakfast. She's practically bouncing around from mixing the pancakes, to getting plates out, to chopping up fruit, to sipping her own coffee, and it makes him chuckle into his mug as he goes in for another sip.

"You're not a morning person are you?"

"Nope," he mumbles still staring at his black coffee.

She laughs with a nod, "Well whenever you 'wake up' you can help me."

He hops up on the counter and rests his head on one of the cupboards. "Got it."

He watches her as she continues to bustle around the kitchen as the smell of pancakes permeates the room, and by the time he's three quarters of the way through his coffee he feels awake enough to hold a conversation.

She reaches up into the cupboard for something and her oversized shirt rises up to the bottom of her sleep shorts.

"Football fan?"

She turns around from flipping pancakes and he nods to her shirt.

It's about two-sizes-too-big and on the front it says _Property of The Denver Broncos._

"Oh," she chuckles and turns back to the stove. "It's actually not even mine," Jeff tilts his head in confusion. "Troy left it behind."

He grips his mug a little tighter, "Oh," his voice chock full of fake enthusiasm. For no reason at all is this, a big deal. Although it's not hard to remember Annie during their first year at Greendale with her massive crush on Troy, now she's wearing his shirt like it's no big deal. His fingers relax off of his coffee mug a little and he continues, "Well they just became a lot less relevant after the Super Bowl."

He eyes Annie out of his coffee mug to see if she had picked up on any of his innate jealously, but she just looks caught up in a sports related fog.

"Never mind."

He hops off the counter and grabs the plate of pancakes and carries them to the dinning room; leaving his surge of jealousy in the kitchen.

They carry everything over to the huge wooden table and sit next to each other at the corner leaving plenty of space in front of them. The small talk is kept to a minimum as the sounds of silverware scraping plates and chewing fill the silence.

Jeff waits a little bit longer for Annie to finish up her food then helps her clear the table. They finish putting their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and decide that before they mess up the house any more they should probably go ahead and take the pictures for his mother.

He gets his mother on the phone and she tells them what to include. Annie's got the phone because after the first sentence of the _'Why haven't I seen you in so long' _guilt trip, he decided that he was pretty much done talking to his mother for the day. So Annie is directing Jeff based off of what his mom wants and Jeff is grudgingly complying to take ten pictures of the same damn room.

They go outside to take a picture of the patio, and while Jeff goes down to get photos of the house from the beach Annie and his mom strike up a conversation about some great local places to eat in California.

He knows his mom, so he knows she won't say anything too embarrassing about him to Annie, but he still holds his breath as he tries to listen in to one side of the conversation.

"She's nice," she smiles as she slides the glass door open to go inside.

He shrugs, "She likes to talk."

"Well," she hands him his phone, "There's no harm in that."

"She likes you, I can tell." He pretends to be interested in a picture he took of the dining room- although he shouldn't feel uncomfortable. It's not like they're togeth- whatever.

"Good," she bounces as a perky smile adorns her lips.

He puts the camera away and glances out at the ocean and Annie's eyes follow his gaze out the window as she waits for him to say something.

"So do you want to—" She motions her head in the direction of the beach.

"Huh?" He shakes his head; snapping out of his own head. "Uh, yeah sure."

They go to their respective rooms to change. Once she finishes tying the string of her bikini at the back of her neck she takes a step back to look at her whole body in the bathroom mirror. Usually she wasn't _that_ critical of her body, but knowing that she was going to spend most of her day half naked with Jeff made not being critical kind of hard.

Her swimsuit is a rich, bright, turquoise bandeau top with matching bikini bottoms. It's not the most modest swimsuit but it certainly gave her a lift, not that she needed one. She lies to herself, saying that Jeff won't look at her that way, but who is she kidding. She takes her hair down and he gets all flustered and speechless. But she's an adult who _apparently_ isn't bad to look at, he's an adult who really isn't bad to look at, and they can handle being in swimwear around each other. They're not twelve.

Refusing to give herself another second to think, she throws on her cover up, grabs her towel, and slides on some flip-flops. She calls herself ready and practically skips down the hallway in excitement for the beach.

#

Under his feet the hot sand becomes cooler and wet as he approaches the ocean. A gust of a cool sea breeze blows into him and it cools him down as the sun shines and touches his skin. He reaches where the tide meets the sand and looks down as the water as it creeps up on his feet.

He looks out at the seemingly infinite ocean beyond the sand, and he feels so small and helpless and suddenly he's really fucking terrified.

He's so far in his own world that he doesn't realize Annie is far behind him calling his name.

"Jeff!" She hollers.

He turns around to see her running towards him with her red cover up blowing back and the bag on her shoulder weighing her down.

"Annie, the ocean isn't going anywhere."

She slows down to a walk and approaches him out of breath.

"I know," she pants.

He looks down at her and laughs before looking back out to the ocean. She disappears and walks back a few feet to set her towel and her bag down.

"What do we do now?" She asks.

Jeff shrugs, "Whatever we want." He tears his eyes off of the ocean landscape and gives her a flickering smile. Her eyes are fixed on the ocean and as she walks forward into the water.

The waves crash at her ankles and she walks along the coastline. He stands motionless as he watches her walk away until she waves him over to walk with her.

It's awkward. The only noises are the birds, and the waves crashing out in the distance. He looks over at her and she's looking down watching her feet walk in the water with a smile fixed on her face. It makes him chuckle to see her so happy by something that seems to be so simple.

She sighs before looking up from the water. "This is nice," she briefly smiles up at him.

He nods to himself and kicks a small incoming wave.

"What do you want to do?" She asks.

He gives her an over exaggerated thinking face and sighs, "I kinda want to push you into the water."

"Too bad you won't."

"Why won't I?"

"Because I'll make your life a living hell if you do."

"A living hell" he mouths silently as he tries not to laugh. And before he gives his actions much thought he grabs her shoulders and pushes her to the water.

She shrieks as she stumbles a bit before catching herself. Laughing, she stands back up with the bottom of her cover up all wet and charges at him. He darts away before she can get to him, but what's she going to do? Pick him up and throw him in the ocean? Yeah, _right_.

She runs after him until they reach where their things are on the beach. Jeff gets there first and when Annie comes up to him she slaps his arm and mumbles, "Jerk."

"Is that the living hell you warned me about?" He asks pointing to where she hit him.

Her eyes instinctively roll at his sarcasm as she turns around and hesitates a moment before taking off her red cover up. She wasn't sure of the best way to do this, but before she could hesitate any longer, she pulls it over her head leaving her in her bright turquoise swimsuit. As she throws the cover up by her bag she notices him looking at her, so she smiles at him and his eyes go wide and he looks away. She walks toward the ocean eagerly, with the intent of hiding her body in the comfort of the water.

It was strange to look out and see nothing but water. Never in her life did she think she would feel how she did now, more than content, she's elated, accomplished, satisfied, excited, and even a little bit nostalgic for memories she has yet to make.

She feels the heat of the sun and the coolness of the water and the breeze as it seems to blow right through her, as if she weighted nothing. Slowly, she takes another step in the water, then another, and another, and before she knows it she's waist deep in this never ending body of water.

She hears a splash and turns around to see Jeff stepping out towards her.

"How's the water?" He yells.

"Great," she turns around and shrieks as a cool wave crashes against her back.

She takes another step backwards into the water to where the water is covering her chest and then slowly lifted her feet off the ground and let the ocean carry her in the direction it chooses. Her body moves up and down with the waves and she feels her whole body rocking with it. Amongst the splashing sounds of the waves she hears Jeff swimming closer.

She has a moment of sheer panic when she goes to rest her feet on the sand, and she finds she can't. He's up to his shoulders in the water, still standing and chuckling at her attempt to stay afloat.

Her toes finally scrape the sand and she struggles to swim forward to Jeff. The last thing she sees before the waves turn her back against him is Jeff rolling his eyes and lunging forward, pulling her to him. His hands move though the water to her waist and it sends this zip down her spine as his warm hands pull her against his.

"What are you like five foot?"

From behind, she splashes water in his direction missing him completely.

He turns her around in his arms and reaches down to lift her up from underneath her knees. They freeze for a moment, not sure what they just got themselves into. It takes a few seconds, but she finally relaxes into his arms as she feels his thumb brushing against her waist underneath the water.

She giggles nervously as a small wave passes by them.

"I'm not that pathetic you know," she mumbles wrapping both her arms around his neck for support. "I can swim."

"I know," he smiles. "Well I _could _throw you in."

She shakes her head vigorously and he chuckles as he starts to walk to where the water is at her chest. They don't really say anything, just letting the sounds of the waves fill their silence until Jeff interrupts it.

"Wanna race?"

They share a competitive smirk before swimming back to shore.

#

She decides to sit on the damp sand with a book. Every time the water creeps up her legs she loses her place in her book and she watches as the water rises and falls over her legs multiple times. She sticks one hand in the water as the tide rises up and watches how the water splashes against her toes.

"You're reading?" His voice from behind her interrupts her.

"You're tanning," she retorts as she snaps her book closed.

"So?"

"So," she voice strains as she stands up, "leave me alone." She uses the incoming wave to kick some water over in his direction.

"Gahhhh!" He sits up at the sudden shock of the cool water.

She smirks as she walks past him.

"I'm going to get started on lunch," she calls.

He mumbles an "okay," as she watches him adjust his towel and go back to lying down.

She throws her now dry cover up on and as soon as she starts on making sandwiches he walks in. He offers help but she declines so he just leans on the counter keeping her company, as their conversation goes pretty much nowhere notable. He forgot how easy being around Annie is. There are no empty silences, just aimless discussions, and lingering smiles that sometimes throw things off kilter.

They both eat standing up and between bites, plan the rest of their day. Not that there is a whole lot to plan anyway. They decide on spending the rest of the day at the house and that they'll eat dinner when they both get hungry.

He takes care of the dishes for her while she zones out at the sea beyond the window.

Somehow it doesn't feel real- being here. First there is the beach, which is amazing in itself, but then there is her company. To her, it truly does feel that she was walking into Greendale less than a year ago meeting this intimidating Spanish tutor, who turned out to be an ex-lawyer with a golden tongue. And now she has him doing her dishes.

She looks back at Jeff who is too busy cleaning to notice her. He grabs a plate to rinse off before throwing it in the dishwasher and holds it at the wrong angle and water splashes all over him and she chuckles softly and shakes her head as she watches.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that this man (who is now struggling to wash a plate) was the same person who thought he was the coolest man alive five years ago. He was such an ass then, well, he still is today but at least he's a loveable, caring ass who isn't as cocky. Maybe that's what Greendale does, not necessarily dumbs you down; just puts you in your place.

#

While she's reapplying sunscreen, he's checking out the patio. He stumbles upon a storage bin with a bunch of playthings, boogie boards, floaties, things to build sand castles with, shovels, buckets...

He's about to close it up when Annie sees a red sandcastle mold sitting in the bin and gasps in a high-pitched squeal: "Oh my God!"

At first he thinks she's spotted a huge spider or something she would find terrifying but then sees her smiling eyes looking directly at the bin full of toys.

"What?"

She points at the bin, "We can build a sand castle!"

"Annie, these are for children..."

"...And we can use them!" She looks at him with excitement. "Do you want to build a sandcastle?" She singsongs.

His eyes grow wide and he tilts his head irritably, and she gets the message of what she accidently just did.

He recognizes the tune from _Frozen_ and points a finger at her: "Do not."

"It doesn't have to be a sandcastle…"

"Annie," his voice is stern even though he's biting his lip, trying his hardest not to give in laughing.

"Okay, bye."

He turns around with sigh and then feels a something hit his back and clatter to the floor. When he looks down he sees the red plastic mold on the ground and looks up to find Annie running away, laughing.

"Now we're throwing things? Real mature!" he shouts out to her.

She turns back to smile but keeps running toward the water.

By the time he reaches the water, Annie is already swimming around in the ocean. The water creeps up on his toes and it sends a chill down his spine each time it does. He sits right where he's at and lays his back on the damp sand. The water slowly splashes over his body and the sounds of the beach become muffled as he tunes everything out and sighs and slowly skinks into the sand.

He hears heavy splashing, and it gets closer and closer until it stops right next to him.

"Tired?" Annie's voice asks.

"Nope."

"Relaxing?"

"Yup."

He hears her sigh and take a seat next to him. When water rises and splashes both of them she shrieks and it makes him chuckle.

He could have sworn that he felt Annie's eyes on him but when he squints his eyes to check he sees her hugging her legs and looking out at the sea. Reluctantly, he sits up and combs the sand out of the back of his hair and leans back digging his palms into the sand behind him. When he fully opens his eyes the brightness of the sun hurts them and he groans.

"You weren't sleeping were you?"

"No, I told you I was just relaxing."

She nods silently and sighs again. "It's so nice out," she mumbles- probably for herself but he responds anyway.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be a nice week up here."

He sees her fingers mess with the sand beneath the thin layer of water, drawing aimless circles and creating a fog of sand in the shallow water. He can see the wheels turning as she thinks of something to say to keep up this pitifully slow weather-based conversation, so he helps her out.

"So what's Abed doing this week?"

She quits playing with the sand and turns to him, "He's going to see his dad for a few days. That's pretty much it."

"Have any idea what the rest of our friends are doing this week?"

"Umm," she mumbles, "I think Britta is going to see her brother's family for the Fourth... why are you looking at me like that?"

"Do you talk to Britta that much?" He asks as Annie scrunches her forehead in response "What? I'm just asking. Do you?"

"Yeah... she's a friend." Her voice is slow, and hesitant and there is no question that there is underlying jealousy there.

"Did she ever talk about me and her...?"

She leans back on her hands, "Yeah. But she doesn't want to marry you, if that's what you're asking…"

"That's not what I'm asking." Something tightens in him and he clenches his fist discretely. He's being way too defensive about this.

"Well, since you're _so_ interested, she thinks you're back to being a smug douche."

He laughs, "Good to hear she's back to normal."

"Are you?" The jealousy in her voice is replaced with a hint of concern and he feels this warmth spreading under his chest.

"Me? I'm perfectly normal." She scoffs at him. "We were both just being stupid. That's all." It comes out more defensively than he means, but it's the truth.

She holds her hands up in surrender. "Hey, just checking. I know what it's like to make dumb decisions."

He quirks an eyebrow at her. What dumb decisions? Annie makes smart decisions, right?

"I almost ran away with Vaughn, you know, my boyfriend for a total of three months," she says bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "That's what I meant."

_Riiiiight_.

"Well..." he starts, trying to defend her.

"No..." She shakes her head and laughs to herself, "It pretty was stupid."

He shrugs, "I don't know, getting married on a whim is pretty stupid too."

He looks up from the ground to see Annie looking out at the waves. She sighs, "I'm just saying I know what it's like to make decisions because you're lonely or scared." "I've made a lot," she shakes her head at herself, "_a lot_ of dumb decisions that way."

He's not sure what she means by 'a lot', but he feels like she's talking to herself and allowing him to listen. He wants to say that he gets it, or that he doesn't make good decisions in bad situations either, but he's already proven that point.

"Well, thanks for supporting me in my time of idiocy," He offers her a small, warm smile.

"Well," she finally breaks eye contact with the tide to look back at him. She struggles to hold on to her thought as his eyes meet hers and he smiles tentatively. There's a hitch in her breath as she tries to say what she wanted to say. Her mouth opens soundlessly and she diverts her eyes from his sending a chill across her whole body.

He remembers that night, clearly, way too clearly for something that happened years ago.

She had explained she couldn't go, he explained what he was doing outside and then he was making a joke about having a foursome with two versions of himself and Britta and Slater.

"_I guess I better go deal with it."_

"_Good luck." _

"_Umm, I'm glad you're staying."_

Then she nodded and smiled sweetly at him. He gave her a hug. Then she kissed him.

It was that quick.

When she backed away to look at him once more, he pulled her to him. The way he got to hold her, even if it was just that one time, it wasn't something he ever forgot. Sometime after he captured her lips and before her mouth opened, he realized what the following year would have been like without her, and he held her closer. Then both of their mouths were open and their hands were everywhere and it was all too much-

Shit. He can't be thinking like this now. Or _ever_.

"Well," he sighs, coming out of his trance. "I can't imagine what things would be like if you left."

She laughs, "Yeah, the study group would be somehow even _more_ unproductive."

"No," he starts. "_I'm _glad you stayed. I mean yeah, no one would study I mean-" he sighs abandoning the rest of that thought, "I care about you, and I'm happy you're in my life."

She nods at him and chuckles. "Well, I'm happy you're in my life."

"And I'm glad you stayed," he adds.

"And I'm glad you didn't get married."

"Touché."

#

He plants his hands on the sand and kicks his legs up, almost kicking Annie in the face. He stays in his handstand for an impressive time and then comes down.

"See?"

She looks at him unimpressed, "You almost hit me in the face."

"Sorry," he holds his hands up.

They're about ten feet away from the water and just asking to be rushed to the hospital.

When she asked him randomly if he could do a handstand she tried to cover the wide-eyed look of oh-crap-things-are-getting-too-weird-right-now with a smile. After all the talk about Jeff getting married, and her dating Vaughn, and a vague mention of the transfer dance, things got too... uncomfortable, for her anyway.

Annie huffs at his unapologetic apology and backs up. She shoos him out of the way and he raises his eyebrow at her. "But can you do _this_?"

She takes off running and does this round off cartwheel thing, and Jeff momentarily thinks he can top that until she launches herself into a backhand spring. She lands, a little wobbly but raises her arms in the air as he sits there slack jawed.

She walks back toward him with one hand rubbing her lower back and other rubbing her shoulder. "God, I should have stretched for that," she groans.

"Wow... um."

"I did cheerleading until I was fifteen," she answers his unasked question while popping her back.

"I was going to say…"

She brushes the sand off of her hands. "I made the mistake of showing that to Troy and Abed once, they made me be in their films as a stunt woman," she rolls her eyes.

He wrinkles his brow, "Don't stunt people fall out of buildings, and not do flips?"

She shrugs and makes an 'I don't know' noise.

Jeff chuckles and kicks at the incoming wave, which feels cold now that they've been out of the water for a while.

She stands back with her arms crossed, looking out and fixing her eyes at where the ocean meets the sky.

"What time is it?" She asks without looking away.

He ruffles though her bag to find either his or her phone.

"Five 'til 4:30."

Arms still crossed over her stomach, she turns on her heel to face Jeff, who's putting his phone back in her bag. "What do you want to do about dinner?"

He makes an "eh" sound followed by a shrug. "It's whatever."

"Well," she says reaching down for her beach bag. "I'm tired and I going to be hungry soon, so I'm going to clean myself up."

He grabs the two towels from the ground and slings them over his shoulder as they walk toward the house. He sees Annie struggling to shrug the strap of the bag up her arm and trades her for the towels.

#

The skin under her bathing suit stings when she takes it off, she had always been prone to sunburns. She turns around in the mirror to look at her back. She's only red around were her swimsuit ties which isn't bad, considering she fell asleep in the sun once.

She steps into the shower, letting the water run colder than usual to soothe her burns and she does everything in her power to think about what to have for dinner, and not about what happened today. Not that anything actually happened; just a few glances and suggestive smiles. Maybe she's looking into it. Probably.

When she's ready she walks down to the kitchen, leaving her thoughts behind.

A little later, Jeff walks down the steps into the kitchen, still drying his hair with a towel, and sees that Annie's already there. Standing in front of the fridge trying to decide what to make. He sees her standing with her wet hair spreading water on the back of her tee shirt.

"What do you want?" She asks without turning to look at him.

"A drink," he says flatly.

"For dinner."

"Do one of those frozen pizzas you toss in the oven."

Annie nods and opens the freezer to get a veggie pizza out. She looks for the directions on the back and goes to preheat the oven; meanwhile Jeff hoists himself up on the counter. Once she's done, she sits on the kitchen island right across from him and claps her hands together and places them in her lap with a sigh.

"I'm going to get a drink," he swings off the counter.

"May I-" She starts but is interrupted.

"Do you want one?"

"Yes please," she tilts her head to the side and smiles.

Jeff pulls out the blender, and dumps the ingredients for a margarita in and the blender whirls to life. It's loud, and she's just watching him add in chunks of ice and almost misses when the oven timer goes off when it's done preheating.

They sit at the corner of the awkwardly large table with their pizza and drinks. There isn't much to talk about, being that they spent the entire day together and will continue to do so for the next few days.

The silence is too much for her, so she takes a sip of her drink, smiles, and complements him, "These are really good!"

His mouth is full so he just nods. "Thanks," he mumbles with napkin over his mouth.

She looks at the table with wide eyes, running though a mental catalog of things to talk about.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

He shrugs as he takes a sip of his drink.

Damnit, Jeff. Really?

She props her elbows on the table with a slice of pizza in her hands and thinks. "Okay well, there's Santa Monica which is about thirty minutes away, hiking, there's some pretty cool things to do in Malibu too... umm..." She tries to think of more things to do as she takes a bit out of her pizza.

"Hiking?"

She nods while she finishes chewing and swallowing. "Yeah, Escondido Falls. It's like four miles or something, bunch of waterfalls, a pretty cool view. Sound good?"

"It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, so if you wanted to go tomorrow would be the time to do it."

She nods her head, "But do you want to?"

"I really don't care," he shrugs.

She rolls her eyes at his nonchalance, "It's your trip too! I want you to have a say in what we do." She waits for him to say something but he just shrugs again. "Here how about this, I'll only take up like half a day so you pick what we do for the other half."

"I like what we did today."

"Just hanging out?"

"Yeah," he nods picking an oversized tomato off his pizza. "So hiking in the morning and beach later?"

She looks up from playing with her straw in her drink, "Sounds good."

It's nearly seven by the time they're done eating and start clearing off the table. When they're done, they wander out to the patio and plop down on the cushiony sofa, exhausted.

They're in this secluded outdoor sun area of the balcony. It has three walls and is covered by the second story balcony. The wall facing the sea has an opening that frames the ocean, and a couch on the other side, but they only stay there long enough for Annie to decide she wants to take a walk on the beach.

She gets up and doesn't make him come with her, besides some alone time would probably do her good.

He rests his head back on the edge of the sofa and closes his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a walk."

He doesn't bother to open his eyes; he just gives her a 'thumbs up' and goes back to relaxing.

The sand is soft and damp beneath her feet; wet enough to where she can leave footprints. The warm sea breeze blows though her drying hair and the water occasionally splashes her ankles. She giggles every time it does because she can't actually believe she's here. She walks along the coastline, and for what seems like the first time during this trip, she safely lets her thoughts wander.

She's not going to lie; she loves the way Jeff looks at her. Every girl wants to be looked at that way, but it's Jeff. It's kind of weird, but at the same time kind of desirable. Still, being anything more than a friend sounds like a good idea in theory but actually being anything remotely romantic to him… is scary. But the more she thinks, the more she warms up to the idea. She loves him, but she's not _in _love with him. But they're adults; nothing has to mean anything, right?

She turns around to see the house, small and in the distance, and starts walking back to it. When she's almost there she sees Jeff walk down to the sand.

Neither of them pick up the pace, after all running to each other on the beach? This isn't a Nicholas Sparks novel.

They meet halfway.

His hands are in his pockets as he walks toward her, "Hey," he nods.

"Hi," she says softly.

He turns and faces the ocean and she follows suit.

The sun is getting closer and closer to going down beneath the waves and she sighs audibly at the amazing sight in front of her.

"It's pretty isn't it," he hardly whispers looking up at the clouds that change colors from blue, to purple, to pink, and then to orange.

It's strange seeing this side of him. The side that talks in hushed tones and looks at the sky and voices how pretty it is. The side of him that does the dishes for her and steals olives off her pizza and sings in the car, it's oddly comforting to see how normal he really is.

She nods as she snaps back to reality and responds even quieter than he did. "It really is."

He shifts his weight next to her, bumping shoulders with her and making her stumble.

"Hey!"

He throws his hands up, "Sorry, accident."

She giggles quietly and tries to push him the other way, but fails when he chuckles and grabs her waist and whispers, "I will throw you in."

"Why do I feel like that's an empty threat?" She turns her head back and looks up at him from under her eyelashes.

"You shouldn't. I already pushed you in once today," he lifts her up effortlessly and swings her toward the ocean without actually letting go.

She squeals and flails her arms trying to hit him, "Jeff! I'm sorry I didn't believe your threat!"

"You believe me now huh?"

"Yes!" She laughs, "Now put me down!" She feels him lower her to the ground. She swats his arm as she mutters, "Thank you."

Once her feet are on the ground only one of Jeff's hands slides off of her waist, while the other one remains wrapped around her back. There's a hitch in her breath, and she's not sure what to do. She settles for resting her head against his arm, and he doesn't seem to mind. In fact he looks down at her, smiles and brushes a strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear.

The sun is almost to the ocean and the only noise is the quiet crashing of the waves until she interrupts the silence.

"Thanks for bringing me."

He looks down at her again to see she's looking down at the wave crashing into their feet.

"Thanks for coming," it comes out low and breathlessly.

Her toes are making little designs in the sand and she stops when this terrifying thought comes to her, that this JeffandAnniething is too easy. Not Jeff _with_ Annie, but Jeff _and_ Annie. Hell, they're watching the sunset and standing with his arm around her, and Annie knows that it's something she shouldn't look into but it's just too easy to. She's read her fair share of romance novels; she knows what's supposed to happen next.

The sun finally goes down and they stand there just watching the bright colors fade from the sky.


End file.
